Roman150

Yep, it's cold. Layers, my friend, layers.

Excellent -- *love* Spurgeon.

With all due respect, I don't think he has a libertarian impulse in his body. *At best*, he is a Fabian socialist, and that is very, very bad for individual liberty.

I was saved at a BG Crusade when I was 11 years old. That's a lot of years ago. I could go on, but thank you Billy Graham.

Excellent. Thanks for posting.

This point of lawlessness has been ignored for 50 years. It should have been slapped back, hard, in the '60's. Now it has carte blanche under a lawless, leftist ideologue president. Reagan and many others were right in observing that civilization could be lost in a generation.

Their track record hasn't been very good so far.

Depending upon the seriousness of what's going on, you may want to check out Teen Challenge. It is Christ-centered treatment. http://teenchallengeusa.com/

This is beyond incredible. Amen, *somebody*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG525x2mUTU

...for the Men's Lounge please? Thanks.

Whew. I thought you might have dangled a participle or something. Carry on.

Yes.

Southern Gospel at its very best. Soul stirring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdvIOYLxKVU

Yeah, "We the Living" is excellent. There have been a couple of movie adaptations, 1942 and 1986 respectively, but I haven't seen either one. The '42 version is Italian, I believe, and said to be very good. Back in the day, I read everything by Rand in publication at the time, fiction and non-fiction. I *did not* make it through "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology", which did little more than make my brain hurt. I wasn't an Objectivist, and had great problems with Rand's atheism, even though I was pretty back-slid at the time. But on topics like capitalism, the evils of collectivism, the individual's supremacy over the state or society, and the 60's counter-culture, she was white-hot. And her stuff cured me of the leftist poisons I was being fed in college. Is The Principality of Sealand one of the islands you describe? I can't quite get my finger on the pulse of the political organization there, although it looks like a monarchy. Anyway, I'm too old to live on the North Sea. http://www.sealandgov.org/

Despite her militant atheism, Rand was spot-on perfect in her understanding of collectivism and totalitarianism, and the evil that undergirds these philosophies. When I read "Atlas Shrugged" 35 years ago I thought, "Interesting, but can't happen." In the United States, 2014, we now live in the world she described in "Atlas".

An exquisite performance of a deeply moving piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO2JPnxPmFg&list=RDqO2JPnxPmFg

My 2 cents, and only that. I don’t wish to step on any toes, and if I do, I apologize in advance. Not quite 30 years ago, I was seriously considering getting tattooed. I was in the music business, and many of my ‘colleagues’ (that’s a euphemism for the unsavory crowd I ran around with) were getting them, and I sort of caught the bug. At the time, tats were not as mainstream as they are today, and still somewhat the province of the counter-culture. Like most, I *think*, the idea appealed to me because it was cool, somewhat rebellious, and daring. I had previously done wild colors and styles with my hair and had multiple piercings, but by the time I was considering tattoos, I had ‘outgrown’ that stuff. Getting a tattoo was a carnal itch I *really* wanted to scratch. I *was* a Christian at the time, and out of sheer curiosity I decided to see if the Bible had anything to say about what was on my agenda. And, as we’ve already looked at on this thread, there it was: “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:28). Cold water. I hit the brakes. And before I get a chorus of “We’re not under the Law!”, yeah, I get that. But I *didn’t* know that then, and here was scripture stating very plainly that I shouldn’t do what I was thinking about doing. I was suddenly circumspect. I considered what was motivating me and what was actually involved with tattooing. Here’s my take-away: 1. I was plainly motivated by vanity, a desire to be noticed, and a certain spirit of rebelliousness. 2. Tattoos are completely *unnecessary*. If I couldn’t bring myself to deny myself regarding tattoos, I figured I’d be hard pressed to do so when temptations were greater and stakes were higher. 3. Tattoos are a life-time commitment to a certain mind-set at a certain point in time. As I out-grew my hair styles and piercings, it seemed nearly inconceivable to me that I’d always love that ink. I’ve never looked back or had second thoughts. I think perspective on tattoos and other ‘elective’ (iffy) issues can be found in other Biblical precepts. A few are below. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20New International Version (NIV) 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Do tattoos honor the temple of the Holy Spirit? ------------- Psalms 119:37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. This refers to issues of visual vanity. --------- Titus 2:12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ------------ Ephesians 4:22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, Is getting tattooed laying aside the old self? -------------- Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. I think getting tattoos is 'conforming to this world', but I know there are those who disagree. ------------ Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Is the desire for tattoos of the flesh? I think so. ------------- As I said, my two cents. And sorry about the formatting. I hope this is readable.

At least one viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life". There's a theater in my neck of the woods that always runs it around Christmas time, and it is an *insanely* popular event. My wife, 17-year-old son, and myself can't for another big-screen experience. I'm 56, and I'd guess I've seen it at least 50 times since I discovered it in college.

"When Man ceases to worship God he does not worship nothing but worships everything." -- Attributed to Chesterton. Romans 1:23 ..."and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." The religion of the militant left (the animal rights crowd, global warmers, feminists and homosexual activists, et al), is, in fact, leftism. They embrace it with a fanaticism that makes evangelical Christianity look tepid.

Thanks for the welcome. Nice forum -- it lives up to the *Christian* part of its name.

Because Satan stirs everybody's pot. Fix your mind on Jesus and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and anything with lyrics by Fanny Crosby.